Reception apparatus, reception system, reception method, and storage medium

ABSTRACT

Provided are a reception apparatus, a reception system, a reception method, and a storage medium that can naturally provide a personal conversation in accordance with a user without requiring the user to register the personal information thereof in advance. A disclosure includes a face information acquisition unit that acquires face information of a user; a face matching unit that matches, against face information of one user, the face information registered in a user information database in which user information including the face information of the user and the reception information is registered; and a user information management unit that, when a result of matching of the face information performed by the face matching unit is unmatched, registers the user information of the one user to the user information database.

This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/085,704 filed Sep. 17, 2018 which is a National Stage ofInternational Application No. PCT/JP2017/021294 filed Jun. 8, 2017,claiming priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-117396filed Jun. 13, 2016.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a reception apparatus, a receptionsystem, a reception method, and a storage medium that utilize a facematching.

BACKGROUND ART

Robots have been widespread as industrial robots in manufacturing sitesin a manufacturing industry so far. Moreover, in recent years, robotsthat provide reception such as conversation with a user have been widelyapplied in various fields such as a retailing industry, a serviceindustry, an entertainment industry, a medical industry, and the like.

Patent Literature 1 discloses a service-providing system that provides aservice such as nursing that has an experience information database thatmanages pieces of experience information on a plurality of users inassociation with identification information of each user and aservice-providing robot that provides a service to the user. In thesystem disclosed in Patent Literature 1, the service-providing robotacquires user identification information by contacting to each user,accesses the experience information database, and uses the useridentification information to extract experience information of theuser. The service-providing robot provides a service that meets a demandfrom the user based on the experience information.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

-   PTL 1: International Publication No. WO2015/093382

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

In the art disclosed in Patent Literature 1, however, it is necessaryfor the user to register personal information in advance that isidentification information used for identifying the user. For example, arobot identifies a user by using face matching based on a face featureamount extracted from a face image of the user. In this case, the useris required to prepare a face photograph and register in advancepersonal information including a face feature amount. Suchpre-registration of personal information is laborious for a user, whichhas been an obstacle for spread of reception systems using a robot.

Further, in the art disclosed in Patent Literature 1, when no personalinformation for identifying a user is registered in the database inadvance, it is difficult to provide reception such as personalconversation in accordance with a user.

The example object of the present invention is to provide a receptionapparatus, a reception system, a reception method, and a storage mediumthat can naturally provide a personal conversation in accordance with auser without requiring the user to register personal information thereofin advance.

Solution to Problem

According to an example aspect of the present invention, provided is areception apparatus including a face information acquisition unit thatacquires face information of a user; a conversation processing unit thatacquires reception information including a content of conversation withthe user; a face matching unit that matches, against the faceinformation of one user, the face information registered in a userinformation database in which user information including the faceinformation of the user and the reception information is registered; anda user information management unit that, when a result of matching ofthe face information performed by the face matching unit is unmatched,registers the user information of the one user to the user informationdatabase.

According to another example aspect of the present invention, providedis a reception system including reception apparatuses and a server thatcan communicate with the reception device via a network. Each of thereception apparatuses includes a face information acquisition unit thatacquires face information of a user, a conversation processing unit thatacquires reception information including a content of conversation withthe user, a first storage unit that stores a first user informationdatabase in which user information including the face information of theuser and the reception information is registered, a face matching unitthat matches, against the face information of one user, the faceinformation registered in the first user information database, and auser information management unit that, when a result of matching of theface information performed by the face matching unit is unmatched,registers the user information of the one user to the first userinformation database in the first storage unit. The server includes asecond storage unit that stores a second user information database inwhich user information including the face information of the useracquired by the reception apparatuses and the reception information isregistered. The user information management unit synchronizes the firstuser information database with the second user information database andupdates a content of the first user information database to the samecontent as a content of the second user information database.

According to yet another example aspect of the present invention,provided is a reception method including: acquiring face information ofa user; acquiring reception information including a content ofconversation with the user; matching, against the face information ofone user, the face information registered in a user information databasein which user information including the face information of the user andthe reception information is registered; and when a result of matchingof the face information is unmatched, registering the user informationof the one user to the user information database.

According to still another example aspect of the present invention,provided is a storage medium in which a program is stored, the programcausing a computer to execute: acquiring face information of a user;acquiring reception information including a content of conversation withthe user; matching, against the face information of one user, the faceinformation registered in a user information database in which userinformation including the face information of the user and the receptioninformation is registered; and when a result of matching of the faceinformation is unmatched, registering the user information of the oneuser to the user information database.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

According to the present invention, it is possible to naturally providea personal conversation in accordance with a user without requiring theuser to register personal information thereof in advance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a reception robot accordingto a first example embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of thereception robot according to the first example embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a userinformation database stored in a storage unit in the reception robotaccording to the first example embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardwareconfiguration of the reception robot according to the first exampleembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a reception method according to thefirst example embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a reception system accordingto a second example embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of thereception system according to the second example embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 8A is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a userinformation database stored in a storage unit of a robot A in thereception system according to the second example embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 8B is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a userinformation database stored in a storage unit of a robot B in thereception system according to the second example embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 8C is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a userinformation database stored in a storage unit of a DB server in thereception system according to the second example embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardwareconfiguration of the reception robot according to the second exampleembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardwareconfiguration of a database server according to the second exampleembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating synchronization of a userinformation database in a reception system according to a third exampleembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a userinformation database in a reception system according to a fourth exampleembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart (part 1) illustrating a reception methodaccording to the fourth example embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart (part 2) illustrating the reception methodaccording to the fourth example embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a computerapparatus according to a fifth example embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of areception apparatus according to another example embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of areception system according to another example embodiment of the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS First Example Embodiment

A reception robot and a reception method according to a first exampleembodiment of the present invention will be described by using FIG. 1 toFIG. 5.

First, a reception robot according to the present example embodimentwill be described by using FIG. 1 to FIG. 4. FIG. 1 is a schematicdiagram illustrating a reception robot according to the present exampleembodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functionalconfiguration of the reception robot according to the present exampleembodiment. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of auser information DB stored in a storage unit in the reception robotaccording to the present example embodiment. FIG. 4 is a block diagramillustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the receptionrobot according to the present example embodiment.

A reception robot (hereafter, also simply referred to as “robot”)according to the present example embodiment is one of the receptionapparatuses that are deployed in a shop, for example, and attend a userto wait on customers. A shop where the robot according to the presentexample embodiment is deployed is not limited in particular and may be ashop which sells items to a user that is a customer, a shop whichprovides a service to a user that is a customer, or the like, forexample.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a robot 10 according to the present exampleembodiment has conversation with a facing user U to attend the user. Therobot 10 is configured to start attending the user U in response todetection of the facing user U. The robot 10 may be configured to detectthe user U based on an image captured by an image capturing unit 16described later, or a human detection sensor such as a heat sensor thatcan sense the user U may be provided. Further, the robot 10 may beconfigured to start attending the user U by pressing a start button (notillustrated) provided on the robot 10. Note that the external shape ofthe robot 10 is not limited to the external shape illustrated in FIG. 1,and various external shape such as an external shape representing ahuman or an animal may be employed.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the robot 10 according to the present exampleembodiment has a control unit 12, a storage unit 14, the image capturingunit 16, a voice input unit 18, and a voice output unit 20. The controlunit 12 controls the entire operation of the robot 10 according to thepresent example embodiment. The storage unit 14 stores a userinformation database (DB) in which user information that is informationon the user is registered anonymously. The image capturing unit 16capture an image of a user to acquire an image of the user and inputimage data of the acquired image to the control unit 12. The voice inputunit 18 converts a voice uttered by the user into audio data and inputsthe converted audio data to the control unit 12. The voice output unit20 converts the audio data used for conversation with the user generatedby the control unit 12 into a voice and outputs it to the user. Thecontrol unit 12, the storage unit 14, the image capturing unit 16, thevoice input unit 18, and the voice output unit 20 are mounted inside acasing of the robot 10.

The control unit 12 is formed of a processor such as a centralprocessing unit (CPU), for example. The control unit 12 has a faceinformation processing unit 22, a conversation processing unit 24, and auser information management unit 26 as function blocks. Note that, allor some of the control unit 12 may be configured on a server that cancommunicate with the robot 10 via a network.

The face information processing unit 22 processes an image of a usercaptured by the image capturing unit 16 and performs acquisition of userappearance information including a user face information, matching offace information, or the like. The face information processing unit 22further has a face detection unit 220, a face feature amount extractionunit 222, an age estimation unit 224, a gender estimation unit 226, anda face matching unit 228 as function blocks.

To the face detection unit 220, image data of a user image captured bythe image capturing unit 16 is input from the image capturing unit 16.The face detection unit 220 performs face detection on a user imagebased on the image data input from the image capturing unit 16. Thereby,the face detection unit 220 detects a user face image from the userimage captured by the image capturing unit 16. An algorithm used forface detection by the face detection unit 220 is not limited inparticular, and various algorithms may be used to perform facedetection. Note that, in terms of protecting privacy of the user, theface information processing unit 22 may be configured to discard theuser image from which a face image has been detected after the face isdetected by the face detection unit 220. Note that, when a group of aplurality of persons, such as family, friends, coworkers, or the like,visit the place where the robot 10 is installed or the like, a pluralityof persons may be captured in an image that is captured by the imagecapturing unit 16. In such a case, the face detection unit 220 candetect a face image of a person whose mouse is moving as a face image ofan uttering user.

The face feature amount extraction unit 222 extracts a face featureamount that is a feature amount of a face image for the face imagedetected by the face detection unit 220. The face feature amountextraction unit 222 functions as a face information acquisition unitthat acquires a face feature amount that is face information.

The face feature amount extracted by the face feature amount extractionunit 222 is a vector amount, which is a combination of components ofscaler amounts representing a feature of a face image. The component ofa face feature amount is not limited in particular, and various types ofcomponents may be used. For example, as a component of a face featureamount, a positional relationship such as the distance, the angle, orthe like between feature points set at the center or the end of an organof a face such as an eye, a nose, a mouth, or the like, a curvature ofthe outline of the face, a color distribution or a shade value of theface surface, or the like can be used. The number of components of theface feature amount is also not limited in particular, and any numbermay be set as appropriate in accordance with a required matchingaccuracy, a processing speed, or the like. The face feature amountextracted by the face feature amount extraction unit 222 forms a part ofuser appearance information. Note that user appearance information formsa part of user information. Note that, in terms of protecting privacy ofthe user, the face information processing unit 22 may be configured todiscard a face image from which the face feature amount has beenextracted after the face feature amount is extracted by the face featureamount extraction unit 222. Further, the face feature amount isirreversible data from which the source face image for extraction cannotbe reconfigured. Thus, in the robot 10 according to the present exampleembodiment, while the face feature amount is registered in the userinformation DB as described later, protection of user privacy is takeninto consideration.

The age estimation unit 224 estimates the age of a user based on a facefeature amount extracted by the face feature amount extraction unit 222.The component of a face feature amount and the algorithm used for ageestimation by the age estimation unit 224 are not limited in particular,respectively, and various components of a face feature amount andalgorithms in accordance with the components may be used to perform ageestimation. The estimated age of a user estimated by the age estimationunit 224 configures a part of user appearance information.

The gender estimation unit 226 estimates the gender of a user based onthe face feature amount extracted by a face feature amount extractionunit 222. The component of a face feature amount and the algorithm usedfor gender estimation by the gender estimation unit 226 are not limitedin particular, respectively, and various components of a face featureamount and algorithms in accordance with the components may be used toperform gender estimation. The estimated gender of a user estimated bythe gender estimation unit 226 configures a part of user appearanceinformation.

The face feature amount extracted by the face feature amount extractionunit 222, the estimated age estimated by the age estimation unit 224,and the estimated gender estimated by the gender estimation unit 226 areregistered in the user information DB of the storage unit 14 by the userinformation management unit 26 as described later.

The face matching unit 228 matches, against a face feature amount ofuser information registered in the user information DB of the storageunit 14, a face feature amount of a face image of a user being attendedcaptured by the image capturing unit 16 by using a face matching engine.The face matching unit 228 performs such matching sequentially onmultiple pieces of user information registered in the user informationDB. Thereby, the face matching unit 228 searches for the same person asthe user being attended out of users in the user information registeredin the user information DB and attempts to find the same person. In thisoperation, the face matching unit 228 calculates a matching score inaccordance with the similarity between face feature amounts on matching.A higher similarity between face feature amounts results in a largermatching score. The face matching unit 228 determines that the matchingis matched if the matching score is greater than or equal to apredetermined threshold and determines that a user on the matchedmatching in the user information registered in the user information DBis the same person as the user being attended. On the other hand, theface matching unit 228 determines that the matching is unmatched if thematching score is less than the predetermined threshold and determinesthat a user on the unmatched matching in the user information registeredin the user information DB is a different person from the user beingattended.

The face matching unit 228 transfers, to the user information managementunit 26 and a speech generation unit 242 of the conversation processingunit 24, a matching result as to whether or not the same person as theuser being attended has been found through the searching out of users inthe user information registered in the user information DB. That is, theface matching unit 228 transfers the matching result as to whether thematching is matched or unmatched to the user information management unit26 and the speech generation unit 242 of the conversation processingunit 24. When the matching is matched and the same person has beenfound, the face matching unit 228 transfers an anonymous ID of the userfound as the same person to the user information management unit 26 andthe speech generation unit 242 along with the matching result.

The user being attended, the same person as which has been found as aresult of matching performed by the face matching unit 228, is a personthat the robot 10 has attended in the past. On the other hand, the userbeing attended, no same person of which has been found, is a personwhich the robot 10 has not attended, that is, the robot 10 attends forthe first time.

The conversation processing unit 24 generates audio data formingconversation that is in accordance with a user being attended. Theconversation processing unit 24 further has a voice recognition unit 240and the speech generation unit 242 as function blocks.

To the voice recognition unit 240, audio data of a voice uttered by auser is input from the voice input unit 18. The voice recognition unit240 recognizes a voice uttered by the user based on an audio signalinput from the voice input unit 18 and generates text data correspondingto the voice. The algorithm used in voice recognition by the voicerecognition unit 240 is not limited in particular, and variousalgorithms can be used to perform voice recognition.

The speech generation unit 242 generates text data forming a speech tothe user by using a speech engine and generates audio data of a voicecorresponding to the text data. Specifically, based on the text datagenerated by the voice recognition unit 240, the speech generation unit242 can generate audio data of a response voice in accordance with thecontent of a voice uttered by the user. Further, the speech generationunit 242 can also generate audio data of a voice that brings up a topicto the user. The audio data generated by the speech generation unit 242is output as a voice from the voice output unit 20 to the user.

Further, the speech generation unit 242 acquires a conversation historyincluding the content of conversation with the user. The conversationhistory acquired by the speech generation unit 242 includes theconversation content made of the content of the text data correspondingto the voice uttered by the user and the content of the text datagenerated by the speech generation unit 242. Moreover, the speechgeneration unit 242 acquires reception date and time when the user isattended. The conversation history and the reception date and time formreception information. The reception information including theconversation history acquired by the speech generation unit 242 and thereception date and time form a part of user information. Note that theconversation content contained in the conversation history may be theconversation content itself, an abstract of the conversation content, akeyword included in the conversation content, or the like. Further, thereception date and time may be the date and time when the reception isstarted, may be the date and time when the reception is finished, or mayinclude both thereof, for example. Further, the reception date and timemay be the date and time when a user image is captured by the imagecapturing unit 16. Further, the speech generation unit 242 can acquire,as reception information, the reception time period taken from the startto the end of reception to the user, together with the reception dateand time.

Further, once a matching result to the effect that the same person hasbeen found is transferred from the face matching unit 228 of the faceinformation processing unit 22, the speech generation unit 242 acquires,from the user information DB of the storage unit 14, user information onthe user found as the same person based on the anonymous ID transferredalong with the matching result. Note that the speech generation unit 242is not necessarily required to acquire whole user information and mayacquire at least any of an estimated age, an estimated gender, aconversation history, and reception date and time included in the userinformation. However, in order to have a more personal conversation, itis preferable that the speech generation unit 242 acquire at least aconversation history.

In accordance with user information acquired from the user informationDB, the speech generation unit 242 generates text data forming apersonal conversation by using a speech engine for the user beingattended. That is, the speech generation unit 242 utilizes aconversation history and reception date and time included in theacquired user information to generate text data forming a personalconversation by using the speech engine. Further, the speech generationunit 242 may further utilize an estimated age and an estimated genderincluded in the acquired user information to generate text data forminga personal conversation by using the speech engine. For example, when aconversation content which identifies a birthday is included in theconversation history obtained in the past and when the date of attendingthe user is close to the birthday, the speech generation unit 242 cangenerate text data such as “Your birthday is coming soon, right?” astext data forming the speech. Note that, when generating text data ofconversation, the speech generation unit 242 is not always required toutilize all of the conversation history, the reception date and time,the estimated age, and the estimated gender but may utilize asappropriate some or all of the conversation history, the reception dateand time, the estimated age, and the estimated gender.

The user information management unit 26 registers the user informationautomatically acquired by the face information processing unit 22 andthe conversation processing unit 24 to the user information DB stored inthe storage unit 14. As described above, in the face informationprocessing unit 22 and the conversation processing unit 24, the facefeature amount, the estimated age, and the estimated gender are acquiredas user information on the attended user. Further, in the conversationprocessing unit 24, the conversation history and the reception date andtime are acquired as user information on the attended user. The userinformation management unit 26 registers these pieces of userinformation to the user information DB stored in the storage unit 14.Note that the user information management unit 26 can delete, from theuser information DB, user information with which a certain period haselapsed from the registration to the user information DB. Deletion ofthe user information after a certain period has elapsed allows the robot10 according to the present example embodiment to further takeprotection of user privacy into consideration.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of the user information DB stored in thestorage unit 14. User information on the user attended in the past isregistered in the user information DB. As illustrated in FIG. 3, userinformation is registered in the record in the user information DB inassociation with an anonymous identification (ID) that is an anonymousidentifier provided to each attended user. The registered userinformation includes the face feature amount, the estimated age, theestimated gender, the conversation history, and the reception date andtime acquired for the user. The face feature amount, the estimated age,and the estimated gender form user appearance information. Theconversation history and the reception date and time form receptioninformation. The user information DB is an anonymous ID in which eachregistered user is not identified as a particular person. That is, whilethe user information including appearance information and receptioninformation is registered in each record of the user information DB, itis not possible to know from the user information who is each individualuser registered in each record. Note that, in examples of the userinformation DB illustrated in FIG. 3 and FIG. 8A, FIG. 8B, FIG. 8C, andFIG. 12 described later, the face feature amount is indicated in anumeric string for simplified illustration.

The user information management unit 26 generates and provides ananonymous ID on a user basis. The user information management unit 26registers, to the record of the user information DB, the face featureamount, the estimated age, the estimated gender, and the reception dateand time that is the user information acquired on that user inassociation with the anonymous ID provided to the user.

Once a matching result to the effect that no same person has been found,that is, an unmatched matching result is transferred from the facematching unit 228 of the face information processing unit 22, the userinformation management unit 26 automatically performs new registrationof the user information. In this case, the user information managementunit 26 provides a new anonymous ID to the user, no same person as whichhas been found, and registers the user information.

On the other hand, once a matching result to the effect that the sameperson has been found, that is, a matched matching result is transferredfrom the face matching unit 228, the user information management unit 26automatically performs additional registration of the user information.In this case, the user information management unit 26 provides, to theuser being attended the same person as which has been found, the sameanonymous ID as the anonymous ID of the user determined as the sameperson or a new anonymous ID associated with the anonymous ID of theuser determined as the same person and additionally registers the userinformation. For example, when the estimated age has changed, theestimated age is additionally registered. Further, a new conversationhistory is additionally registered.

The image capturing unit 16 is provided to be able to capture an imagein front of the robot 10 and configured to be able to capture an imageof a user facing the robot 10. The image capturing unit 16 is formed ofa digital still camera or a digital video camera, for example, andcaptures a user being attended to acquire an image of the user, asdescribed above. When starting attending a user, for example, the imagecapturing unit 16 can capture the user. The image capturing unit 16captures an image including a face of a user such as an upper part ofuser's body, or the like. The image capturing unit 16 inputs image dataof the acquired image to the control unit 12.

The voice input unit 18 is formed of a microphone, for example, andconverts a voice uttered by the user being attended into audio data, asdescribed above. The voice input unit 18 converts a voice uttered by theuser into audio data during the user being attended. The voice inputunit 18 inputs the converted audio data to the control unit 12.

The voice output unit 20 is formed of a speaker, for example, andconverts audio data used for speech to the user generated by theconversation processing unit of the control unit 12 into a voice andoutputs it to the user, as described above.

The robot 10 described above is formed of a computer apparatus, forexample. An example of the hardware configuration of the robot 10 willbe described by using FIG. 4. Note that the robot 10 may be formed of asingle apparatus or may be formed of two or more physically separatedapparatuses coupled to each other through wired or wireless connection.

The robot 10 has a CPU 1002, a read only memory (ROM) 1004, a randomaccess memory (RAM) 1006, and a hard disk drive (HDD) 1008, asillustrated in FIG. 4. Further, the robot 10 has a camera 1010, amicrophone 1012, and a speaker 1014. The CPU 1002, the ROM 1004, the RAM1006, the HDD 1008, the camera 1010, the microphone 1012, and thespeaker 1014 are connected to a common bus line 1016.

The CPU 1002 controls the entire operation of the robot 10. Further, theCPU 1002 executes programs implementing the function of respective unitsof the face detection unit 220, the face feature amount extraction unit222, the age estimation unit 224, the gender estimation unit 226, andthe face matching unit 228 in the face information processing unit 22described above. Further, the CPU 1002 executes programs implementingthe functions of respective units of the voice recognition unit 240 andthe speech generation unit 242 in the conversation processing unit 24described above. The CPU 1002 implements the functions of respectiveunits of the face information processing unit 22 and the conversationprocessing unit 24 by loading the program stored in the HDD 1008 or thelike to the RAM 1006 and executing it.

The ROM 1004 stores a program such as a boot program therein. The RAM1006 is used as a working area when the CPU 1002 executes a program.Further, the HDD 1008 stores a program executed by the CPU 1002.

Further, the HDD 1008 is a storage apparatus that implements thefunction of the storage unit 14 described above. Note that a storageapparatus that implements the function of the storage unit 14 is notlimited to the HDD 1008. Various storage apparatuses can be used forimplementing the function of the storage unit 14.

The camera 1010 is an image capturing apparatus that implements thefunction of the image capturing unit 16 described above. The microphone1012 is a voice input apparatus that implements the function of thevoice input unit 18 described above. The speaker 1014 is a voice outputapparatus that implements the function of the voice output unit 20described above.

Note that the hardware configuration of the robot 10 is not limited tothe configuration described above but may be various configurations.

The robot 10 according to the present example embodiment can identifywhether or not a user being attended is the same person as a past userwithout requiring the user to register personal information in advance.Moreover, the robot 10 according to the present example embodiment cannaturally provide a personal conversation in accordance with the userbeing attended by utilizing user information including the conversationhistory, the reception date and time, the estimated age, and theestimated gender on the past user determined to be the same person asthe user being attended.

A reception method according to the present example embodiment using therobot 10 according to the present example embodiment described abovewill be further described below by using FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a flowchartillustrating the reception method according to the present exampleembodiment.

For example, the robot 10 deployed in a shop or the like detects afacing user and starts attending the user when the user that is acustomer enters the shop and faces the robot 10 (step S102). The robot10 has conversation with the user by using the conversation processingunit 24 when attending the user.

In conversation with the user, audio data of a voice uttered by the useris input to the voice recognition unit 240 from the voice input unit 18.The voice recognition unit 240 recognizes the voice uttered by the userbased on an audio signal input from the voice input unit 18 andgenerates text data corresponding to the voice. Based on the text datagenerated by the voice recognition unit 240, the speech generation unit242 generates audio data of a response voice in accordance with thecontent of the voice uttered by the user, as a response to the utteranceof the user. Further, the speech generation unit 242 can generate notonly a response to the utterance of the user but also audio data of avoice which brings up a topic to the user. The audio data generated bythe speech generation unit 242 is output as a voice from the voiceoutput unit 20 to the user.

The speech generation unit 242 acquires a conversation history includingthe conversation content with the user during the user being attended.Further, the speech generation unit 242 acquires a reception date andtime when the user is attended.

Once the reception to the user is started, the image capturing unit 16captures the user being attended to acquire an image of the user (stepS104). Subsequently, the image capturing unit 16 inputs image data ofthe acquired image to the face detection unit 220 of the control unit12.

In response to image data of the user image being input from the imagecapturing unit 16, the face detection unit 220 performs face detectionon the user image based on the input image data (step S106). Thereby,the face detection unit 220 detects user face image from the user imagecaptured by the image capturing unit 16.

The face feature amount extraction unit 222 extracts a face featureamount, which is a feature amount of a face image, for the face imagedetected by the face detection unit 220 (step S108).

The age estimation unit 224 estimates the age of the user based on theface feature amount extracted by the face feature amount extraction unit222 and acquires an estimated age of the user. Further, the genderestimation unit 226 estimates the gender of the user based on the facefeature amount extracted by the face feature amount extraction unit 222and acquires an estimated gender of the user. In such a way, the faceinformation processing unit 22 acquires user appearance informationincluding the face feature amount, the estimated age, and the estimatedgender of the user (step S110).

The face matching unit 228 matches the face feature amount of the faceimage detected by the face image of the user being attended against theface feature amount of the user registered in the user information DB ofthe storage unit 14 by using a face matching engine. Thereby, the facematching unit 228 searches for the same person as the user beingattended out of the users registered in the user information DB (stepS112). The face matching unit 228 transfers a matching result as towhether or not the same person has been found, that is, whether thematching is matched or unmatched to the user information management unit26 and the speech generation unit 242 of the conversation processingunit 24. When the matching is matched and the same person has beenfound, the face matching unit 228 transfers an anonymous ID of the userfound as the same person to the user information management unit 26 andthe speech generation unit 242 along with the matching result.

As a result of matching performed by the face matching unit 228, if thematching result is unmatched and no same person is found (step S114,NO), the user information management unit 26 registers the userinformation (step S116). In this case, the user information managementunit 26 provides a new anonymous ID to the user, no same person as whichhas been found, and registers the user information acquired for the userto the user information DB of the storage unit 14. The registered userinformation contains the face feature amount acquired in step S108 andthe estimated age and the estimated gender acquired in step S110.Further, the registered user information includes the conversationhistory and the reception date and time acquired by the speechgeneration unit 242 during the user being attended. The registeredconversation history here includes the contents of conversation with theuser made from the start of the reception of step S102 to the end of thereception of step S118.

After step S116, the reception ends (step S118). Note that step S116 ofregistering user information may be performed after step S118 ofterminating the reception.

On the other hand, as a result of matching performed by the facematching unit 228, if the matching result is matched and the same personhas been found (step S114, YES), the speech generation unit 242 acquiresuser information of the user found as the same person from the userinformation DB of the storage unit 14 (step S120). At this time, thespeech generation unit 242 acquires the user information from the userinformation DB based on the anonymous ID transferred along with thematching result from the face matching unit 228 of the face informationprocessing unit 22.

The speech generation unit 242 utilizes the conversation history, thereception date and time, the estimated age, and the estimated genderincluded in the user information acquired in step S120 to generate textdata forming a personal conversation by using a speech engine. Moreover,the speech generation unit 242 generates audio data corresponding to thegenerated text data. The audio data generated by the speech generationunit 242 is output as a voice from the voice output unit 20 to the userbeing attended.

In such a way, the robot 10 has a personal conversation with the user inaccordance with the user information (step S122). The personalconversation is provided as needed until the reception ends. By having apersonal conversation with a user in accordance with user information,it is possible to naturally provide a personal conversation inaccordance with the user being attended.

Further, as a result of matching performed by the face matching unit228, if the matching result is matched and the same person has beenfound (step S114, YES), the user information management unit 26 performsadditional registration of the user information (step S124). The userinformation management unit 26 provides the same anonymous ID as theanonymous ID of the user determined as the same person or a newanonymous ID associated with the anonymous ID of the user determined asthe same person to the user being attended, the same person as which hasbeen found, and additionally registers the user information. The userinformation additionally registered here includes a new conversationhistory and reception date and time including a new conversation contentmade during reception and, if the estimated age acquired in step S110has changed, includes the changed estimated age. Further, theconversation history additionally registered includes the content ofconversation with the user made from the start of the reception at stepS102 to the end of the reception at step S118.

After step S124, the reception is finished (step S118). Note that stepS124 may be performed after step S118 of terminating the reception.

As described above, according to the present example embodiment, it ispossible to identify whether or not a user being attended is the sameperson as a past user without requiring the user to register personalinformation in advance. Moreover, according to the present exampleembodiment, it is possible to naturally provide a personal conversationin accordance with the user being attended by utilizing user informationincluding a conversation history, a reception date and time, anestimated age, and an estimated gender of the past user determined asthe same person.

Second Example Embodiment

A reception system and a reception method according to a second exampleembodiment of the present invention will be described by using FIG. 6 toFIG. 10. Note that the same components as those in the reception robotand the reception method according to the first example embodimentdescribed above are labeled with the same reference numerals, and thedescription thereof will be omitted or simplified.

First, the reception system according to the present example embodimentwill be described by using FIG. 6 to FIG. 10. FIG. 6 is a schematicdiagram illustrating a reception system according to the present exampleembodiment. FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a functionalconfiguration of the reception system according to the present exampleembodiment. FIG. 8A, FIG. 8B, and FIG. 8C are schematic diagramsillustrating examples of a user information DB stored in a storage unitof respective units in the reception system according to the presentexample embodiment. FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example ofa hardware configuration of the reception robot according to the presentexample embodiment. FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an exampleof a hardware configuration of a database server according to thepresent example embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, a reception system 30 according tothe present example embodiment includes a robot A10 a, a robot B10 b,and a database (DB) server 40. Each of the robot A10 a and the robot B10b is deployed in a shop and attends a user to wait on customers, forexample, in the same manner as the robot 10 according to the firstexample embodiment. The robot A10 a and the robot B10 b are deployed inshops that are different from each other but owned by the same company,for example. Further, the DB server 40 is deployed in a datacenterlocated in a different place from the shops where the robot A10 a andthe robot B10 b are deployed, for example. Note that the number ofrobots is not limited to two of the robot A10 a and the robot B10 b butmay be three or more.

The robot A10 a, the robot B10 b, and the DB server 40 are connected tothe network 50, respectively. The robot A10 a and the DB server 40 areable to communicate with each other via the network 50. Further, therobot B10 b and the DB server 40 are able to communicate with each othervia the network 50. While the type of the network 50 is not limited inparticular, it may be a Wide Area Network (WAN) or a Local Area Network(LAN), for example.

Each of the robot A10 a and the robot B10 b has the same basicconfiguration as that of the robot 10 according to the first exampleembodiment. Each of the robot A10 a and the robot B10 b further has acommunication unit 28. Each communication unit 28 of the robot A10 a andthe robot B10 b is connected to the network 50 and enables communicationbetween respective robots and the DB server 40. Each storage unit 14 ofthe robot A10 a and the robot B10 b functions as a first storage unitthat stores a first user information database.

The DB server 40 has a control unit 42, a storage unit 44, and acommunication unit 46.

The control unit 42 controls the operation of the DB server 40.

The user information DB to which user information is registered isstored in the storage unit 44. The storage unit 44 of the DB server 40functions as a second storage unit that stores a second user informationdatabase.

The communication unit 46 is connected to the network 60 and enablescommunication between the DB server 40 and the robots A10 a and B10 b.

The robot A10 a attends a user in the same manner as in the firstexample embodiment. Thereby, the user information management unit 26 ofthe robot A10 a registers user information of the attended user to theuser information DB of the storage unit 14 in the same manner as in thefirst example embodiment. The robot B10 b also attends a user in thesame manner as in the first example embodiment. Thereby, the userinformation management unit 26 of the robot B10 b also registers userinformation of the attended user to the user information DB of thestorage unit 14 in the same manner as in the first example embodiment.The registration of user information as used herein may include not onlythe registration of user information in step S116 of the flowchartillustrated in FIG. 5 but also additional registration of userinformation in step S124.

Furthermore, in the present example embodiment, in the registration ofuser information in the robot A10 a and the robot B10 b, each of theuser information management units 26 registers reception robotinformation as a part of user information in addition to the userinformation described in the first example embodiment. The receptionrobot information that is reception apparatus information is informationon a robot that attends a user of user information to be registered.Specifically, the reception robot information is information thatidentifies a robot which performed reception and includes a robot IDthat is an ID of a robot which performed reception. Furthermore, thereception robot information may be information that identifies adeployment location of a robot which performed reception and can includea name of a shop in which the robot which performed reception isdeployed and a name of a municipality or city, ward, town, or villagethat is a basic local government and a name of an administrativedistrict or prefecture that is a wide-area local government where theshop is located.

Moreover, in the robot A10 a, the user information management unit 26communicates with the DB server 40 via the communication unit 28 anduploads and transmits user information registered in the userinformation DB of the storage unit 14 to the DB server 40. Further, alsoin the robot B10 b, the user information management unit 26 communicateswith the DB server 40 via the communication unit 28 and uploads andtransmits user information registered in the user information DB of thestorage unit 14 to the DB server 40. In such a way, each of the robotA10 a and the robot B10 b transmits the user information to the DBserver 40. Note that the timings when the robot A10 a and the robot B10b upload user information are not limited in particular. The robot A10 aand the robot B10 b can upload user information regularly orirregularly.

On the other hand, in the DB server 40, the control unit 42 communicateswith the robot A10 a via the communication unit 46 and receives the userinformation transmitted from the robot A10 a. Further, the control unit42 communicates with the robot A10 a via the communication unit 46 andreceives the user information transmitted from the robot A10 a.

Moreover, the control unit 42 registers the user information receivedfrom the robot A10 a and the robot B10 b to the user information DB ofthe storage unit 44. Thereby, the control unit 42 updates the userinformation DB of the storage unit 44.

Thus, each user information management unit 26 in the robot A10 a andthe robot B10 b registers the user information acquired by each robotitself to the user information DB of the DB server 40 via the network50.

FIG. 8A, FIG. 8B, and FIG. 8C are schematic diagrams illustratingexamples of the user information DB stored in the storage unit ofrespective units in the reception system 30 according to the presentexample embodiment. FIG. 8A is a schematic diagram illustrating anexample of the user information DB stored in the storage unit 14 of therobot A10 a. FIG. 8B is a schematic diagram illustrating an example ofthe user information DB stored in the storage unit 14 of the robot B10b. FIG. 8C is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the userinformation DB stored in the storage unit 44 of the DB server 40.

As illustrated in FIG. 8A, in the record of the user information DB ofthe robot A10 a, the face feature amount, the estimated age, theestimated gender, the conversation history, and the reception date andtime acquired for the user are registered as user information inassociation with the anonymous ID. Moreover, in the record of the userinformation DB of the robot A10 a, a reception robot ID is registered,in association with the anonymous ID, as reception robot informationindicating that the robot which attended the user is the robot A10 a.

As illustrated in FIG. 8B, in the record of the user information DB ofthe robot B10 b, the face feature amount, the estimated age, theestimated gender, the conversation history, and the reception date andtime acquired for the user are registered as user information inassociation with the anonymous ID. Moreover, in the record of the userinformation DB of the robot B10 b, a reception robot ID is registered,in association with the anonymous ID, as reception robot informationindicating that the robot which attended the user is the robot B10 b.

The user information DB of the DB server 40 is constructed by uploadingof the user information registered to each user information DB of therobot A10 a and the robot B10 b described above. Thus, the userinformation DB of the DB server 40 includes the record of the userinformation DB of the robot A10 a and the record of the user informationDB of the robot B10 b, as illustrated in FIG. 8C.

Each of the robot A10 a and the robot B10 b attends a user according toa flowchart illustrated in FIG. 5 in the same manner as in the firstexample embodiment except for the feature regarding the user informationDB used in acquisition of the user information used for searching forthe same person and providing a personal conversation.

In the present example embodiment, the robot A10 a and the robot B10 bselect the user information DB used for search for the same person instep S112 and acquisition of the user information in step S120illustrated in FIG. 5 in accordance with the quality of communicationenvironment with the DB server 40. In selecting the user information DB,the robot A10 a and the robot B10 b select any one of its own userinformation DB and the user information DB of the DB server 40. Eachcontrol unit 12 of the robot A10 a and the robot B10 b monitors thecommunication rate with the DB server 40 and can determine the qualityof communication environment with the DB server 40 based on thecommunication rate with the DB server 40.

For example, when the communication environment between the robot A10 aand the DB server 40 is good, the robot A10 a uses the user informationDB stored in the storage unit 44 of the DB server 40 as the userinformation DB. In this case, in step S112, the face matching unit 228in the robot A10 a searches for the same person as the user beingattended out of users registered in the user information DB stored inthe storage unit 44 of the DB server 40. Further, in this case, thespeech generation unit 242 in the robot A10 a acquires the userinformation of the user found as the same person from the userinformation DB stored in the storage unit 44 of the DB server 40 in stepS120. The face matching unit 228 and the speech generation unit 242 canaccess the user information DB of the DB server 40 via the communicationunit 28 and use that user information DB, respectively.

On the other hand, when the communication environment between the robotA10 a and the DB server 40 is not good, the robot A10 a uses the userinformation DB stored in its own storage unit 14 as the user informationDB. In this case, in step S112, the face matching unit 228 in the robotA10 a searches for the same person as the user being attended out ofusers registered in the user information DB stored in its own storageunit 14. Further, in this case, the speech generation unit 242 in therobot A10 a acquires the user information of the user found as the sameperson from the user information DB stored in its own storage unit 14 instep S120.

The robot B10 b can select a user information DB in accordance with thequality of communication environment with the DB server 40 in the samemanner as the case of the robot A10 a described above.

As described above, the user information DB of the DB server 40 includesthe record of the user information DB of the robot A10 a and the recordof the user information DB of the robot B10 b. That is, when viewed fromeach of the robot A10 a and the robot B10 b, the user information DB ofthe DB server 40 includes not only the user information acquired by eachrobot itself, namely, each apparatus itself but also the userinformation acquired by another robot, namely, another apparatus. Byusing such a user information DB of the DB server 40, it is possible tosearch more pieces of user information for the same person as the userbeing attended. Further, since user information acquired by anotherrobot may also be utilized to have conversation with the user, this canincrease the opportunity of providing a personal conversation inaccordance with the user.

Further, as described above, the robot A10 a and the robot B10 b selectand use any one of its own user information DB and the user informationDB of the DB server 40 in accordance with the communication environment.Therefore, the robot A10 a and the robot B10 b can use its own userinformation DB to naturally provide a personal conversation inaccordance with the user even when the communication environment is notgood.

As discussed above, according to the present example embodiment, sincethe user information DB of the DB server 40 further including userinformation acquired by another robot can be used, this can increase theopportunity of providing a personal conversation in accordance with theuser. Further, according to the present example embodiment, since anyone of the user information DB of each robot itself and the userinformation DB of the DB server 40 is selected and used in accordancewith communication environment, it is possible to naturally provide apersonal conversation in accordance with the user regardless of thequality of communication environment.

Note that each of the robot A10 a and the robot B10 b described above isformed of a computer apparatus, for example. The hardware configurationof the robot A10 a and the robot B10 b is substantially the same as thehardware configuration according to the first example embodimentillustrated in FIG. 4. Each of the robot A10 a and the robot B10 bfurther has a communication I/F 1018 that implements the function of thecommunication unit 28, as illustrated in FIG. 9.

The communication I/F 1018 is connected to the network 50. Thecommunication I/F 1018 controls data communication with the DB server 40connected to the network 50.

Further, the DB server 40 described above is formed of a computerapparatus, for example. An example of the hardware configuration of theDB server 40 will be described by using FIG. 10. Note that the DB server40 may be formed of a single apparatus or may be formed of two or morephysically separated apparatuses coupled to each other through wired orwireless connection.

The DB server 40 has a CPU 4002, a ROM 4004, a RAM 4006, and an HDD4008, as illustrated in FIG. 10. Further, the DB server 40 has acommunication I/F 4010. The CPU 4002, the ROM 4004, the RAM 4006, theHDD 4008, and the communication I/F 4010 are connected to a common busline 4012.

The CPU 4002 controls the entire operation of the DB server 40. Further,the CPU 4002 executes a program implementing the function of the controlunit 42 described above. The CPU 4002 implements the function of thecontrol unit 42 by loading the program stored in the HDD 4008 or thelike to the RAM 4006 and executing it.

The ROM 4004 stores a program such as a boot program therein. The RAM4006 is used as a working area when the CPU 4002 executes a program.Further, the HDD 4008 stores a program executed by the CPU 4002.

Further, the HDD 4008 is a storage apparatus that implements thefunction of the storage unit 44 described above. Note that a storageapparatus that implements the function of the storage unit 44 is notlimited to the HDD 4008. Various storage apparatuses can be used forimplementing the function of the storage unit 44.

The communication I/F 4010 is connected to the network 50. Thecommunication I/F 4010 controls data communication with the robot A10 aand the robot B10 b connected to the network 50.

Note that the hardware configuration of the DB server 40 is not limitedto the configuration described above, and various configurations may beemployed.

Third Example Embodiment

A reception system and a reception method according to a third exampleembodiment of the present invention will be described by using FIG. 11.Note that the same components as those in the reception system and thereception method according to the second example embodiment describedabove are labeled with the same reference numerals, and the descriptionthereof will be omitted or simplified.

The basic configuration of the reception system according to the presentexample embodiment is the same as the configuration of the receptionsystem according to the second example embodiment described above. Inthe reception system according to the present example embodiment, eachof the robot A10 a and the robot B10 b updates the user information DBstored in its own storage unit 14 in synchronization with the userinformation DB stored in the storage unit 44 of the DB server 40.

The synchronization of the user information DB in the reception systemaccording to the present example embodiment will be described below byusing FIG. 11. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustratingsynchronization of the user information DB in the reception systemaccording to the present example embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 11, the robot A10 a attends the user in the samemanner as in the second example embodiment. Accordingly, the userinformation management unit 26 of the robot A10 a registers userinformation to the user information DB of the storage unit 14 in thesame manner as in the second example embodiment (step S202). Note thatthe registration of the user information as used herein may include notonly the registration of user information in step S116 but alsoadditional registration of user information in step S124 of theflowchart illustrated in FIG. 5.

Moreover, in the robot A10 a, the user information management unit 26communicates with the DB server 40 via the communication unit 28 anduploads the user information registered in the user information DB ofthe storage unit 14 to the DB server 40 (step S204).

In the DB server 40, the control unit 42 registers the user informationreceived from the robot A10 a to the user information DB of the storageunit 44. Thereby, the control unit 42 updates the user information DB ofthe storage unit 44 (step S206).

On the other hand, in the robot B10 b, the user information managementunit 26 synchronizes the user information DB of the storage unit 14 withthe user information DB of the DB server 40 (step S208). Thereby, theuser information management unit 26 of the robot B10 b updates thecontent of the user information DB of the storage unit 14 to the samecontent as the content of the user information DB of the DB server 40.

Further, the robot B10 b attends the user in the same manner as thesecond example embodiment. The user information management unit 26 ofthe robot B10 b registers user information to the user information DB ofthe storage unit 14 in the same manner as in the second exampleembodiment (step S210). Note that the registration of the userinformation as used herein may include not only the registration of userinformation in step S116 but also additional registration of userinformation in step S124 of the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 5.

Moreover, in the robot B10 b, the user information management unit 26communicates with the DB server 40 via the communication unit 28 anduploads the user information registered in the user information DB ofthe storage unit 14 to the DB server 40 (step S212).

In the DB server 40, the control unit 42 registers the user informationreceived from the robot B10 b to the user information DB of the storageunit 44. Thereby, the control unit 42 updates the user information DB ofthe storage unit 44 (step S214).

On the other hand, in the robot A10 a, the user information managementunit 26 synchronizes the user information DB of the storage unit 14 withthe user information DB of the DB server 40 (step S216). Thereby, theuser information management unit 26 of the robot A10 a updates thecontent of the user information DB of the storage unit 14 to the samecontent as the content of the user information DB of the DB server 40.

In such a way, in each of the robot A10 a and the robot B10 b, the userinformation DB is synchronously updated. Thereby, the content of theuser information DB in each robot becomes the same content as thecontent of the user information DB of the DB server 40 further includingthe user information acquired by another robot.

In the reception system according to the present example embodiment,upload of user information by the robot A10 a and the robot B10 b,update of the user information DB in the DB server 40, and synchronousupdate of the user information DB in the robot A10 a and robot B10 b arerepeated. Note that the timings of upload of user information accordingto the robot A10 a and the robot B10 b are not limited in particular,and user information can be uploaded regularly or irregularly. Further,the timing of update of the user information DB in the DB server 40 isnot limited in particular, and the user information DB can be updatedregularly or irregularly. Further, the timings of synchronous update ofthe user information DB in the robot A10 a and the robot B10 b are notlimited in particular, and the user information DB can be synchronouslyupdated regularly or irregularly.

Each of the robot A10 a and the robot B10 b can use its own userinformation DB synchronously updated as described above to search forthe same person in step S112 and acquire the user information in stepS120 illustrated in FIG. 5.

Each user information DB of the robot A10 a and the robot B10 bsynchronously updated as described above includes the user informationacquired by the robot A10 a and the user information acquired by therobot B10 b. That is, the synchronously updated user information DB ofeach robot includes not only the user information acquired by each robotitself but also the user information acquired by another robot. With theuse of such a user information DB of the robot, it is possible to searchmore pieces of user information for the same person as the user beingattended. Further, since the user information acquired by another robotcan also be utilized to have conversation with the user, this canincrease the opportunity of providing a personal conversation inaccordance with the user.

Further, since the user information DB of the robot itself furtherincluding the user information acquired by another robot in synchronousupdate is used, unlike the case where the user information DB of the DBserver 40 is used, the operation is not affected by the communicationenvironment.

As discussed above, according to the present example embodiment, sincethe user information DB of the robot itself further including the userinformation acquired by another robot in synchronous update is used,this can increase the opportunity of providing a personal conversationin accordance with the user.

Fourth Example Embodiment

A reception system and a reception method according to the fourthexample embodiment of the present invention will be described by usingFIG. 12 to FIG. 14. Note that the same components as those in thereception system and the reception method according to the second andthird example embodiments described above are labeled with the samereference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted orsimplified.

The basic configuration of the reception system according to the presentexample embodiment is the same as the configuration of the receptionsystem according to the second example embodiment described above. Inthe present example embodiment, a reception method when the userinformation DB of the DB server 40 including not only user informationacquired by each robot itself but also user information acquired byanother robot is used to attend the user will be described in detail.

The reception method according to the present example embodiment will bedescribed below by using FIG. 12 to FIG. 14. FIG. 12 is a schematicdiagram illustrating an example of the user information DB in thereception system according to the present example embodiment. FIG. 13and FIG. 14 are flowcharts illustrating the reception method accordingto the present example embodiment.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of the user information DB of the DBserver 40. As illustrated in FIG. 12, the user information DB of the DBserver 40 includes user information acquired by the robot A10 a and userinformation acquired by the robot B10 b. Moreover, the user informationDB of the DB server 40 includes user information acquired by anotherrobot C that is the same as the robot A10 a and the robot B10 b.

Each user information acquired by each robot includes, as receptionrobot information, a name of a shop in which the robot which performedreception is deployed and a name of a municipality that is a basic localgovernment and a name of an administrative district that is a wide-arealocal government where the shop is located, in addition to a receptionrobot ID.

Each robot uses the user information DB of the DB server 40 as describedabove to attend a user. A case where reception is performed by the robotA10 a will be described below as an example.

The robot A10 a attends the user according to the flowchart illustratedin FIG. 13. The flowchart illustrated in FIG. 13 is basically the sameas the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 5 of the first example embodiment.However, the robot A10 a uses the user information DB of the DB server40 as the user information DB used in searching for the same person instep S112. Further, the robot A10 a uses the user information DB of theDB server 40 as the user information DB used in acquiring the userinformation in step S120.

In searching for the same person in step S112, the face matching unit228 of the robot A10 a determines a search priority for user informationof the user information DB based on the reception robot informationincluded in the user information of the user information DB of the DBserver 40. The face matching unit 228 sequentially matches face featureamounts of user information in descending order of the search priorityaccording to the level of the determined search priority. With a searchpriority being determined in such a way, searching for the same personcan be efficiently performed.

Specifically, the face matching unit 228 of the robot A10 a sets thehighest search priority for the user information acquired by the robotitself, that is, by the robot A10 a out of the user informationregistered in the user information DB of the DB server 40, for example.Further, the face matching unit 228 sets the second highest searchpriority for the user information acquired by a robot which is adifferent robot than the robot A10 a and deployed in the same shop outof the user information of the user information DB. Further, the facematching unit 228 sets the third highest search priority for the userinformation acquired by a robot which is a different robot than therobot A10 a and deployed in another shop within the same municipalityout of the user information of the user information DB. Further, theface matching unit 228 sets the fourth highest search priority for theuser information acquired by a robot which is a different robot than therobot A10 a and deployed in another shop within the same administrativedistrict but not within the same municipality.

In such a way, for user information acquired by other robots than therobot A10 a, the face matching unit 228 of the robot A10 a can determinea search priority based on the distance relationship or the geographicalrelationship between the other robot and the robot A10 a. Specifically,the face matching unit 228 of the robot A10 a can determine a searchpriority for the user information acquired by other robots based on thedistance relationship between the deployment location of other robotsand the deployment location of the robot A10 a.

As discussed above, the face matching unit 228 of the robot A10 a canset the search priority of the user information acquired by the robotitself to be higher than the search priority of the user informationacquired by the other robots. Further, for the user information acquiredby the other robots than the robot A10 a, the face matching unit 228 ofthe robot A10 a can determine a search priority based on the distancerelationship or the geographical relationship between the other robotsand the robot A10 a.

Further, in the present example embodiment, when providing a personalconversation in step S122, the speech generation unit 242 takes intoconsideration of the reception robot information of the user informationutilized for the conversation. Details of providing a personalconversation in step S122 in the present example embodiment will bedescribed below by using FIG. 14. FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustratingdetails of having a personal conversation in step S122 in the presentexample embodiment.

First, the speech generation unit 242 of the robot A10 a determineswhether or not the user information acquired from the user informationDB in step S120 is acquired by the robot A10 a, that is, whether or notacquired by itself (step S302).

If the user information is information acquired by the robot itself(step S302, YES), the speech generation unit 242 of the robot A10 adirectly utilizes the user information acquired in step S120 andgenerates text data forming a personal conversation by using a speechengine. Moreover, the speech generation unit 242 generates audio datacorresponding to the generated text data. The audio data generated bythe speech generation unit 242 is output as a voice from the voiceoutput unit 20 to the user. Note that a plurality of robots may bedeployed in the same location such as in the same shop, there may be acase where the user information in which matching of the face featureamount is matched is information acquired by another robot deployed inthe same location. Also in this case, the speech generation unit 242 candirectly utilize the user information acquired by another robot deployedin the same location and generate text data forming a personalconversation by using a speech engine in the same manner as the casewhere the user information is information acquired by the robot itself.

In such a way, the robot A10 a directly utilizes the user informationacquired by itself and has a personal conversation with the user (stepS304). For example, it is assumed that a conversation history having aconversation content to the effect that the user's birthday is April 2is included in the user information acquired by the robot itself. Inthis case, when the date of reception is close to April 2, the robot A10a can perform utterance of “By the way, your birthday is coming soon,right?”, for example. By directly utilizing user information acquired bythe robot itself in such a way, it is possible to provide a personalconversation which is directly related to the conversation content inthe conversation history or a personal conversation highly related tothe conversation content in the conversation history. Further, a userwho has a personal conversation with the robot A10 a is likely torecognize that the user has conversed with the robot A10 a in the past.Thus, even when a personal conversation directly related to the contentin the conversation history is provided, the user is less likely to feelunnatural or strange with the content of the conversation.

In such a way, the speech generation unit 242 of the robot A10 a changesthe content of a personal conversation with the user in accordance withwhether the robot identified by the reception apparatus informationincluded in the user information in which matching of the face featureamount is matched is the robot itself or another robot. Note that, whenthe robot identified by the reception apparatus information is anotherrobot, the content of a personal conversation with the user will be asdescribed below.

On the other hand, if the user information is not information acquiredby the robot itself, that is, if it is information acquired by anotherrobot (step S302, NO), the speech generation unit 242 of the robot A10 adetermines the distance relationship or the geographical relationshipbetween the robot A10 a and another robot. The speech generation unit242 of the robot A10 a changes the content of a personal conversationusing the user information acquired by another robot in accordance withthe determined distance relationship or geographical relationship. Notethat, specifically, the distance relationship or the geographicalrelationship as used herein refers to a distance relationship betweenthe deployment location of the robot A10 a and the deployment locationof another robot, for example.

Specifically, the speech generation unit 242 of the robot A10 adetermines whether or not the user information acquired from the userinformation DB in step S120 is information acquired in another robotwithin the same municipality, for example (step S306).

If the user information is information acquired by another robot withinthe same municipality (step S306, YES), the speech generation unit 242of the robot A10 a indirectly utilizes the user information acquired instep S120. That is, the speech generation unit 242 indirectly utilizesthe user information acquired in step S120 and generates text dataforming a personal conversation by using a speech engine. Moreover, thespeech generation unit 242 generates audio data corresponding to thegenerated text data. The audio data generated by the speech generationunit 242 is output as a voice from the voice output unit 20 to the user.

In such a way, the robot A10 a indirectly utilizes the user informationacquired by another robot within the same municipality to have apersonal conversation with the user (step S308). For example, it isassumed that a conversation history of the conversation content to theeffect that the user likes yellow is included in the user informationacquired in another robot within the same municipality. In this case,while presenting yellow clothes, the robot A10 a can provide utteranceof “Clothes here are in fashion. How are them?” for example. Byindirectly utilizing user information acquired by another robot in sucha way, it is possible to provide a personal conversation with a contentdiluting relevance with the conversation content in the conversationhistory. The content of a personal conversation indirectly utilizinguser information acquired by another robot may have lower relevance tothe conversation content in the conversation history compared to thecontent of a personal conversation directly utilizing user informationacquired by the robot itself.

If the user information is not information acquired by another robotwithin the same municipality (step S306, NO), the speech generation unit242 of the robot A10 a further determines the distance relationship orthe geographical relationship. That is, the speech generation unit 242of the robot A10 a determines whether or not the user informationacquired from the user information DB in step S120 is one acquired byanother robot within the same municipality (step S310).

If the user information is information acquired by another robot withinthe same municipality (step S310, YES), the speech generation unit 242of the robot A10 a more indirectly utilizes the user informationacquired in step S120. That is, the speech generation unit 242 moreindirectly utilizes the user information acquired in step S120 andgenerates text data forming a personal conversation by using a speechengine. Moreover, the speech generation unit 242 generates audio datacorresponding to the generated text data. The audio data generated bythe speech generation unit 242 is output as a voice from the voiceoutput unit 20 to the user.

In such a way, the robot A10 a more indirectly utilizes the userinformation acquired by another robot within the same administrativedistrict but not within the same municipality and has a personalconversation with the user (step S312). For example, it is assumed thata conversation history of a conversation content to the effect that theuser likes travelling is included in the user information acquired inanother robot within the same administrative district but not within thesame municipality. In this case, the robot A10 a can provide utteranceof “It's getting warm. You may feel like going somewhere,” for example.By more indirectly utilizing user information acquired by another robotin such a way, it is possible to have a personal conversation with acontent further diluting relevance with the conversation content in theconversation history. The content of a personal conversation moreindirectly utilizing user information acquired by another robot may havelower relevance to the conversation content in the conversation historycompared to the content of a personal conversation indirectly utilizinguser information acquired by another robot.

If the user information is not information acquired by another robotwithin the same administrative district (step S330, NO), the speechgeneration unit 242 of the robot A10 a much more indirectly utilizes theuser information acquired in step S120. That is, the speech generationunit 242 much more indirectly utilizes the user information acquired instep S120 and generates text data forming a personal conversation byusing a speech engine. Moreover, the speech generation unit 242generates audio data corresponding to the generated text data. The audiodata generated by the speech generation unit 242 is output as a voicefrom the voice output unit 20 to the user.

In such a way, the robot A10 a much more indirectly utilizes the userinformation acquired by another robot inside or outside the sameadministrative district and has a personal conversation with the user(step S314). Further, in this case, a general conversation may beprovided to the user without a use of the user information acquired byanother robot inside or outside the same administrative district. Bymuch more indirectly utilizing user information acquired by anotherrobot in such a way, it is possible to have a personal conversation witha content much more diluting relevance with the conversation content inthe conversation history. The content of a personal conversation muchmore indirectly utilizing user information acquired by another robot mayhave lower relevance to the conversation content in the conversationhistory compared to the content of a personal conversation moreindirectly utilizing user information acquired by another robot.

In such a way, when the robot identified by the reception robotinformation included in the user information in which matching of theface feature amount is matched is another robot, the speech generationunit 242 of the robot A10 a changes the content of a personalconversation with the user in accordance with the determined distancerelationship or geographical relationship between another robot and therobot itself.

As described above, when user information acquired by another robot isutilized to provide a personal conversation, relevance to theconversation content in the conversation history is diluted in thecontent of the personal conversation. It is therefore possible to reduceawkwardness or uncomfortable feeling at a user to the contents of apersonal conversation and further avoid awkwardness or uncomfortablefeeling.

As discussed above, according to the present example embodiment, sincethe conversation content of a personal conversation is changed inaccordance with reception robot information included in user informationused for providing the personal conversation, the personal conversationcan be more naturally provided.

Note that, while the case of using the user information DB of the DBserver 40 has been described above, the same process may apply to thecase where the user information DB of the robot itself synchronouslyupdated to the same content as that in the user information DB of the DBserver 40 is used as illustrated in the third example embodiment.

Fifth Example Embodiment

A computer apparatus according to a fifth example embodiment of thepresent invention will be described by using FIG. 15. In the presentexample embodiment, a computer apparatus used for implementing theprocess of respective units in the reception robot and the receptionsystem according to the first to fourth example embodiments describedabove will be described.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example of a computer apparatus used forimplementing the process of respective units in the reception robot andthe reception system according to the first to fourth example embodimentdescribed above. A computer apparatus 2000 illustrated in FIG. 15 is notlimited in particular but may be of any type or any form. For example,the computer apparatus 2000 may be a laptop computer, a desktopcomputer, a workstation, a personal digital assistant, a server, a bladeserver, a mainframe, an embedded system, or the like. For example, thecomputer apparatus 2000 can be mounted on the robot 10 as an embeddedsystem.

The computer apparatus 2000 has a processor 2002, memory 2004, and astorage apparatus 2006. Further, the computer apparatus 2000 has a highspeed controller 2008 including a high speed interface and a low speedcontroller 2010 including a low speed interface. The memory 2004 and ahigh speed extension port 2012 are connected to the high speedcontroller 2008. Further, an external input/output apparatus such as adisplay is connected to the high speed controller 2008. On the otherhand, a low speed extension port 2014 and the storage apparatus 2006 areconnected to the low speed controller 2010.

When the computer apparatus 2000 is used for implementing the process ofrespective units in the robot 10, a camera module 2016, a microphonemodule 2018, and a speaker module 2020 are connected to the low speedextension port 2014. Furthermore, in this case, an actuator module 2022is connected to the low speed extension port 2014. The camera module2016 functions as the image capturing unit 16. The microphone module2018 functions as the voice input unit 18. The speaker module 2020functions as the voice output unit 20. The actuator module 2022functions as a drive unit that drives movable part of the robot 10. Notethat these modules may be connected to the high speed extension port2012.

The processor 2002, the memory 2004, the storage device 2006, the highspeed controller 2008, the low speed controller 2010, and the high speedextension port 2012 are connected to each other through various buses.Further, the processor 2002, the memory 2004, the storage device 2006,the high speed controller 2008, the low speed controller 2010, and thehigh speed extension port 2012 may be implemented on a commonmotherboard or may be implemented as appropriate in other forms.

The processor 2002 is a CPU, for example, and can process an instructionexecuted within the computer apparatus 2000. Such an instruction mayinclude an instruction used for displaying graphic information of agraphical user interface (GUI) on an external input/output device suchas a display and stored in the memory 2004 or the storage device 2006.

Further, a plurality of processors, a plurality of buses, or a pluralityof processors and a plurality of buses can be used as appropriatetogether with multiple memory devices and multiple types of memorydevices. Further, the plurality of computer apparatuses 2000 can beconnected to each apparatus that performs some of necessary processes.For example, the plurality of computer apparatuses 2000 can be connectedto each other as a server bank, a group of blade servers, or amulti-processor system.

The memory 2004 stores information present in the computer apparatus2000. For example, the memory 2004 may be a volatile memory unit or anon-volatile memory unit. The memory 2004 may be another computerreadable medium and may be a magnetic disk, an optical disk, or thelike, for example.

The storage device 2006 can configure mass storage used for the computerapparatus 2000. The storage device 2006 is, for example, a computerreadable medium such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk device, ahard disk device, an optical disk device, a tape device, a flash memoryor other solid state memory devices, a disk array, or the like.Alternatively, the storage device 2006 can include such a computerreadable medium. The storage device 2006 includes a storage areanetwork, or devices of other configurations. A computer program productmay be tangibly embodied in an information carrier. The computer programproduct can store one or more instructions that execute one or aplurality of processes as described above when executed. The informationcarrier is the memory 2004, the storage device 2006, a memory device onthe processor 2002, or a computer readable medium such as a propagationsignal or a machine readable medium.

The high speed controller 2008 manages the process that intensively usesa bandwidth for the computer apparatus 2000. On the other hand, the lowspeed controller 2010 manages the process that less intensively uses thebandwidth. However, such allocation of functions is a mere example andnot limited thereto. Further, a part or whole of the high speedcontroller 2008 may be incorporated in the processor 2002.

The high speed controller 2008 is connected to the memory 2004 and thehigh speed extension port 2012 that can accept various extension cards.Further, the high speed controller 2008 is connected to an externalinput/output device such as a display via a graphics processor or anaccelerator, for example.

Further, the low speed controller 2010 is connected to the storagedevice 2006 and the low speed extension port 2014. The low speedextension port 2014 can include a communication port of variousstandards such as Universal Serial Bus (USB) (registered trademark),wired or wireless Ethernet (registered trademark), or the like, forexample. To the low extension port 2014, one or more input/outputdevices such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a scanner, and the likecan be connected. Further, to the low speed extension port 2014, one ormore network devices such as a switch, a router, or the like can beconnected via a network adapter, for example.

The computer apparatus 2000 can be implemented in a number of differentforms. For example, the computer apparatus 2000 can be implemented by atypical server or a grouped form with a plurality of such servers.Further, the computer apparatus 2000 can be implemented as a part of arack server system. Moreover, the computer apparatus 2000 can beimplemented in a form of a personal computer such as a laptop computer,a desktop computer, or the like.

The computer apparatus 2000 described above can function as a part ofthe robot 10 in the example embodiments described above. In this case,the processor 2002 of the computer apparatus 2000 can function as thecontrol unit 12 by executing a program that implements the function ofthe control unit 12 of the robot 10. Further, the storage device 2006 ofthe computer apparatus 2000 can function as the storage unit 14 of therobot 10.

Further, the computer apparatus 2000 can function as the DB server 40 inthe example embodiments described above. In this case, the processor2002 of the computer apparatus 2000 can function as the control unit 42by executing a program that implements the function of the control unit42 of the DB server 40. Further, the storage device 2006 of the computerapparatus 2000 can function as the storage unit 44 of the DB server 40.

Note that a part or whole of the program executed by the processor 2002of the computer apparatus 2000 can be provided by a computer readablestorage medium that stores it therein, such as a Digital VersatileDisc-Read Only Memory (DVD-ROM), a Compact Disc-Read Only Memory(CD-ROM), a USB memory or other flash memory, or the like.

Other Example Embodiments

A reception apparatus that can function as the reception robot describedin each of the above example embodiments can be configured asillustrated in FIG. 16 according to another example embodiment. FIG. 16is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of areception apparatus according to another example embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 16, the reception apparatus 5000 according toanother example embodiment has a face information acquisition unit 5002that acquires face information of one user to be attended and aconversation processing unit 5004 that has conversation with the oneuser and acquires reception information including a content of theconversation. Further, the reception apparatus 5000 has a face matchingunit 5006 that matches, against the face information of the one user,face information registered in the user information database in whichuser information including face information of the attended user and thereception information is registered. Furthermore, the receptionapparatus 5000 has a user information management unit 5008 that, when aresult of matching of face information performed by the face matchingunit 5006 is unmatched, registers the user information of the one userto the user information database.

According to the reception apparatus 5000 of another example embodiment,it is possible to naturally have a personal conversation in accordancewith a user without requiring the user to register the personalinformation thereof in advance.

Further, the reception system described in each of the above exampleembodiments can be configured as illustrated in FIG. 17 according toanother example embodiment. FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating afunctional configuration of a reception system according to anotherexample embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 17, a reception system 6000 according to anotherexample embodiment includes the reception apparatus 7000 and the server8000. The reception apparatus 7000 and the server 8000 can communicatewith each other via a network 9000.

The reception apparatus 7000 has a face information acquisition unit7002 that acquires face information of a user to be attended and aconversation processing unit 7004 that has conversation with one userand acquires reception information including a content of conversationwith the user. Further, the reception apparatus 7000 has a first storageunit 7006 that stores a first user information database. In the firstuser information database, user information including the faceinformation of the attended user and the reception information isregistered. Further, the reception apparatus 7000 has a face matchingunit 7008 that matches, against the face information of one user, theface information registered in the first user information database.Furthermore, the reception apparatus 7000 has a user informationmanagement unit 7010 that, when a result of matching of the faceinformation performed by the face matching unit 7008 is unmatched,registers the user information of the one user to the first userinformation database in the first storage unit 7006.

The server 8000 has a second storage unit 8002 that stores a second userinformation database. In the second user information database, userinformation including the face information of the user attended by theplurality of reception apparatuses 7000 and the reception information isregistered.

The user information management unit 7010 of the reception apparatus7000 synchronizes the first user information database with the seconduser information database. Thereby, the user information management unit7010 updates a content of the first user information database to thesame content as a content of the second user information database.

According to the reception system 6000 of another example embodiment, itis possible to naturally have a personal conversation in accordance witha user without requiring the user to register the personal informationthereof in advance.

Modified Example Embodiments

The present invention is not limited to the example embodimentsdescribed above, and various modifications are possible.

For example, while the robot 10, the robot A10 a, and the robot B10 bhave been described as an example of the reception apparatus thatperforms reception in the above example embodiments, the receptionapparatus is not necessarily required to be a robot. The receptionapparatus may be an apparatus such as a smartphone, a tablet terminal, acomputer terminal, or the like in addition to the robot that can attenda user.

Further, the case where the robot 10, the robot A10 a, and the robot B10b are deployed in shops has been described as an example in the aboveexample embodiments, a place where each robot is deployed is not limitedto a shop. The robot can be deployed in any place in addition to a shopthat is visited by a user who may need reception.

Further, while the case where an estimated age or an estimated gender isacquired and registered as user information from a user image capturedby the image capturing unit 16 has been described as an example in theabove example embodiments, other information may be acquired andregistered as user information. For example, clothing information onuser's clothes, the number of accompanying persons with a user, theweather at a place where a user is located, or place information on acondition of a place such as a congestion degree can be acquired andregistered as user information from a user image captured by the imagecapturing unit 16.

Further, while the case where each of the robot 10, the robot A10 a, andthe robot B10 b have conversation with a user by utterance has beendescribed as an example in the above example embodiments, each robot isnot limited to that speaks only. The robot may be configured to move ortravel in accordance with the content of conversation with a user or thelike, in addition to speech.

Further, while the case where each of the robot 10, the robot A10 a, andthe robot B10 b have conversation with a user by voice has beendescribed as an example in the above example embodiments, each robot isnot limited to that provides conversation by voice. The robot may haveconversation with a user by displaying text data forming conversationwith a user generated by the speech generation unit 242 on a built-indisplay or an external display, for example.

The whole or part of the example embodiments disclosed above can bedescribed as, but not limited to, the following supplementary notes.

(Supplementary Note 1)

A reception apparatus comprising:

a face information acquisition unit that acquires face information of auser;

a conversation processing unit that acquires reception informationincluding a content of conversation with the user;

a face matching unit that matches, against the face information of oneuser, the face information registered in a user information database inwhich user information including the face information of the user andthe reception information is registered; and

a user information management unit that, when a result of matching ofthe face information performed by the face matching unit is unmatched,registers the user information of the one user to the user informationdatabase.

(Supplementary Note 2)

The reception apparatus according to supplementary note 1, wherein theuser information acquired by another of the reception apparatus isregistered in the user information database.

(Supplementary Note 3)

The reception apparatus according to supplementary note 2, wherein, whena result of matching of the face information performed by the facematching unit is matched, the conversation processing unit utilizes theuser information in the user information database having the faceinformation of matched matching to have conversation with the one user.

(Supplementary Note 4)

The reception apparatus according to supplementary note 3,

wherein the user information includes reception apparatus informationthat identifies a reception apparatus which attended the user, and

wherein the conversation processing unit changes a content of theconversation with the one user in accordance with whether a receptionapparatus identified by the reception apparatus information included inthe user information in the user information database having the faceinformation of matched matching is the reception apparatus itself or theanother reception apparatus.

(Supplementary Note 5)

The reception apparatus according to supplementary note 4, wherein, whena reception apparatus identified by the reception apparatus informationincluded in the user information in the user information database havingthe face information of matched matching is the another receptionapparatus, the conversation processing unit changes a content of theconversation with the one user in accordance with a distancerelationship between the another reception apparatus and the receptionapparatus itself.

(Supplementary Note 6)

The reception apparatus according to any one of supplementary notes 3 to5, wherein the face matching unit matches, against the face informationof the one user, the face information of the user information acquiredby the reception apparatus itself out of the user information registeredin the user information database at a higher priority than the userinformation acquired by the another reception apparatus.

(Supplementary Note 7)

The reception apparatus according to any one of supplementary notes 1 to6 further comprising a storage unit that stores the user informationdatabase,

wherein the user information management unit synchronizes the userinformation database stored in the storage unit with another userinformation database stored in another storage unit of a server andupdates a content of the user information database to the same contentas a content of the another user information database, wherein theanother user information database can communicate with the server via anetwork, and the user information including the face information of theuser acquired by a plurality of reception apparatuses and the receptioninformation is registered in the another user information database.

(Supplementary Note 8)

The reception apparatus according to any one of supplementary notes 1 to6, wherein the user information database is stored in a storage unit ofa server with which the user information database can communicate via anetwork.

(Supplementary Note 9)

The reception apparatus according to any one of supplementary notes 1 to8 further comprising an image capturing unit that captures a user,

wherein the face information acquisition unit extracts a face featureamount as the face information from a face image of the user captured bythe image capturing unit.

(Supplementary Note 10)

The reception apparatus according to any one of supplementary notes 1 to9, wherein the user information database is an anonymous database inwhich who is a user in the registered user information is unknown.

(Supplementary Note 11)

A reception system comprising reception apparatuses and a server thatcan communicate with the reception apparatus via a network,

wherein each of the reception apparatuses comprises

a face information acquisition unit that acquires face information of auser,

a conversation processing unit that acquires reception informationincluding a content of conversation with the user,

a first storage unit that stores a first user information database inwhich user information including the face information of the user andthe reception information is registered,

a face matching unit that matches, against the face information of oneuser, the face information registered in the first user informationdatabase, and

a user information management unit that, when a result of matching ofthe face information performed by the face matching unit is unmatched,registers the user information of the one user to the first userinformation database in the first storage unit,

wherein the server comprises

a second storage unit that stores a second user information database inwhich user information including the face information of the useracquired by the reception apparatuses and the reception information isregistered, and

wherein the user information management unit synchronizes the first userinformation database with the second user information database andupdates a content of the first user information database to the samecontent as a content of the second user information database.

(Supplementary Note 12)

The reception system according to supplementary note 11,

wherein the user information management unit of each of the receptionapparatuses transmits, to the server, the user information registered inthe first user information database, and

wherein the server registers, to the second user information database,the user information transmitted from the user information managementunit of each of the reception apparatuses.

(Supplementary Note 13)

A reception method comprising:

acquiring face information of a user;

acquiring reception information including a content of conversation withthe user;

matching, against the face information of one user, the face informationregistered in a user information database in which user informationincluding the face information of the user and the reception informationis registered; and

when a result of matching of the face information is unmatched,registering the user information of the one user to the user informationdatabase.

(Supplementary Note 14)

The reception method according to supplementary note 13 furthercomprising, when a result of matching of the face information ismatched, utilizing the user information in the user information databasehaving the face information of matched matching to have conversationwith the one user.

(Supplementary Note 15)

A storage medium in which a program is stored, the program causing acomputer to execute:

acquiring face information of a user;

acquiring reception information including a content of conversation withthe user;

matching, against the face information of one user, the face informationregistered in a user information database in which user informationincluding the face information of the user and the reception informationis registered; and

when a result of matching of the face information is unmatched,registering the user information of the one user to the user informationdatabase.

(Supplementary Note 16)

The storage medium according to supplementary note 15, wherein theprogram causes the computer to execute, when a result of matching of theface information is matched, utilizing the user information in the userinformation database having the face information of matched matching tohave conversation with the one user.

While the present invention has been described with reference to theexample embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the exampleembodiments described above. Various modifications that can beunderstood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configurationor the details of the present invention within the scope of the presentinvention.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   10 robot-   10 a robot A-   10 b robot B-   12 control unit-   14 storage unit-   16 image capturing unit-   18 voice input unit-   20 voice output unit-   22 face information processing unit-   24 conversation processing unit-   26 user information management unit-   30 reception system-   40 DB server-   42 control unit-   44 storage unit-   50 network-   220 face detection unit-   222 face feature amount extraction unit-   228 face matching unit-   240 voice recognition unit-   242 speech generation unit

The invention claimed is:
 1. A reception apparatus comprising: one ormore memories storing instructions; and one or more processorsconfigured to execute the instructions to: acquire captured faceinformation of a person; match the captured face information againstregistered face information, the registered face information beingregistered in a first anonymous record in which the registered faceinformation, registered reception information regarding preference ofcustomer, and a first anonymous identifier (ID) are registered, and theregistered reception information comprising a reception date and time;register the captured face information, reception information, and asecond anonymous identifier (ID) in a second anonymous record of theperson in a case where a result of matching between the captured faceinformation and the registered face information is unmatched; and outputa clothes information based on the registered reception information, theregistered face information and the reception date and time registeredin the first anonymous record in a case where a result of matchingbetween the captured face information and the registered faceinformation registered in the first anonymous record is matched.
 2. Thereception apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the one or moreprocessors are further configured to execute the instructions to, in acase where a result of matching between the captured face informationand the registered face information is matched, output data based on theface information and the reception information in the first anonymousrecord.
 3. The reception apparatus according to claim 2, wherein theoutput data comprises audio data and the one or more processors arefurther configured to execute the instructions to output the audio data.4. The reception apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the output datacomprises text data and the one or more processors are furtherconfigured to execute the instructions to output the text data.
 5. Thereception apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the one or moreprocessors are further configured to execute the instructions toregister the captured face information and the registered receptioninformation of the person to the second anonymous record without theperson performing a registration operation.
 6. The reception apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are furtherconfigured to execute the instructions to automatically register thecaptured face information and the registered reception information ofthe person to the second anonymous record with the second anonymous ID.7. The reception apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the one or moreprocessors are further configured to execute the instructions toregister at least one of a face feature amount, an estimated age, anestimated gender, a conversation history, and a reception date and timeof the person in the second anonymous record.
 8. The reception apparatusaccording to claim 2, wherein the one or more processors are furtherconfigured to execute the instructions to, in response to a result ofthe matching between the captured face information and the registeredface information being a match, register the captured face informationand the registered reception information of the person in the firstanonymous record with the first anonymous ID.
 9. The reception apparatusaccording to claim 2, wherein the one or more processors are furtherconfigured to execute the instructions to automatically register thecaptured face information and the registered reception information ofthe person with an anonymous ID that does not identify the person. 10.The reception apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the one or moreprocessors are further configured to execute the instructions to, inresponse to a result of matching between the captured face informationand the registered face information being unmatched, generate a newanonymous ID as the second anonymous ID and associate the secondanonymous ID with the first anonymous ID and the reception informationof the person with the second anonymous ID.
 11. The reception apparatusaccording to claim 9, wherein the one or more processors are furtherconfigured to execute the instructions to additionally register at leastone of an estimated age, a conversation history, and reception date andtime of the person in the case where a result of matching between thecaptured face information and the registered face information ismatched.
 12. The reception apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theone or more processors are further configured to execute theinstructions to, in the case where a result of matching between thecaptured face information and the registered face information ismatched, utilize the captured face information and the registeredreception information registered in the first anonymous record toprovide conversation with the person.
 13. The reception apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are furtherconfigured to execute the instructions to match the registered faceinformation registered in the first anonymous record against thecaptured face information of the person if the person's mouth is moving.14. A reception apparatus comprising: one or more memories storinginstructions; and one or more processors configured to execute theinstructions to: acquire face information of a first person; acquirereception information of the first person; match the acquired faceinformation of the first person against face information registered inan anonymous record, wherein the registered face information in theanonymous record is information concerning a face of second person, andis registered in association with an anonymous identifier and registeredreception information regarding preference of customer, and theregistered reception information comprising a reception date and time;and in a case where a result of matching between the captured faceinformation and the registered face information registered in theanonymous record is matched, the first person is determined to be sameas the second person, and output data based on the acquired faceinformation, the registered reception information, the registered faceinformation, and the reception date and time registered in the anonymousrecord of the second person is output, the output data indicating aclothes information.
 15. The reception apparatus according to claim 14,wherein the output data comprises audio data and the one or moreprocessors are further configured to execute the instructions to outputthe audio data.
 16. The reception apparatus according to claim 14,wherein the output data comprises text data and the one or moreprocessors are further configured to execute the instructions to outputthe text data.
 17. A reception method comprising: a computer acquiringface information of a first person; the computer acquiring firstreception information of the first person; the computer matching theface information of the first person against face information of asecond person registered in an anonymous record, the face informationbeing stored in the anonymous record with registered second receptioninformation regarding preference of customer, and the registered secondreception information comprising a reception date and time; registeringthe face information and the first reception information of the firstperson in the anonymous record in association with an anonymousidentifier in a case where a result of matching of the face informationis unmatched; and outputting a clothes information based on the secondreception information, the registered face information and the receptiondate and time registered in the anonymous record in a case where aresult of matching between the captured face information and theregistered face information registered in the anonymous record ismatched.
 18. A non-transitory storage medium in which a program isstored, the program causing a computer to execute: acquiring faceinformation of a first person; acquiring first reception information ofthe first person; matching the face information of the first personagainst face information of a second person registered in an anonymousrecord, the face information being stored in the anonymous record withregistered second reception information regarding preference ofcustomer, and the registered second reception information comprising areception date and time; registering the face information and the firstreception information of the first person in the anonymous record inassociation with an anonymous identifier in a case where a result ofmatching of the face information is unmatched; and outputting a clothesinformation based on the second reception information, the registeredface information and the reception date and time registered in theanonymous record in a case where a result of matching between thecaptured face information and the registered face information registeredin the anonymous record is matched.
 19. The reception apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the first anonymous record and the secondanonymous record do not include a name of the person.
 20. The receptionapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first anonymous record andthe second anonymous record do not include information of the identityof the person.
 21. The reception apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe registered reception information is information obtained at anotherstore.